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Phillies' Papelbon puts Red Sox behind him

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The last pitch Jonathan Papelbon threw was a 90 m.p.h. splitter in Baltimore, and like so many that have come from his right hand before, it carried promise. Promise that the Boston Red Sox could avoid the ignominy of a historic collapse. Promise that Papelbon's team would live another day.

"I've been more excited to get into the clubhouse than any spring training," Jonathan Papelbon said. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)
"I've been more excited to get into the clubhouse than any spring training," Jonathan Papelbon said. (Yong Kim/Staff Photographer)Read more

CLEARWATER, Fla. - The last pitch Jonathan Papelbon threw was a 90 m.p.h. splitter in Baltimore, and like so many that have come from his right hand before, it carried promise. Promise that the Boston Red Sox could avoid the ignominy of a historic collapse. Promise that Papelbon's team would live another day.

Almost 700 miles south in Atlanta, the Phillies watched Papelbon's windup on a big-screen TV in the visitors clubhouse at Turner Field. They reveled in the chaos. When Robert Andino dropped Papelbon's splitter into shallow left field for a game-winning single, some Phillies shouted, others sprinted from the showers, and a few just stared in disbelief.

"I wouldn't want to be him," one Phillies player said aloud.

Now Papelbon is one of them, and says he couldn't be happier. His Phillies career informally begins Sunday, when pitchers and catchers participate in the team's first workout of the spring. On Saturday, during a news conference, he attempted to shut the door on seven years in Boston.

"This year," Papelbon said, "I've been more excited to get into the clubhouse than any spring training."

The man is wired like a closer. So much that when the Red Sox attempted to move him back into the rotation in 2007, he demanded he remain the ninth-inning man. He is known for his theatrics on the mound, and a number of Phillies players this winter remarked how excited they were to meet the person behind the intense personality.

"I like pressure," he said. "That's what makes me tick, man."

But mostly, he was reserved Saturday, and that was to be expected. The riverdancing and references to Cinco Ocho, his alter ego, can wait.

But then, when Papelbon was asked if he could picture facing Boston in October, the confidence briefly revealed itself. No, Papelbon said, it's not hard to look ahead. His current tasks are long tossing and meeting his new teammates. The rest will come.

"But," he said, "I do know when we play the Red Sox."

When asked if he often thought this winter about how 2011 ended, Papelbon said, "Every day. All day." He stared for a couple of seconds without saying a word.

"I mean, I don't think about it at all, man," he said.

If anything, Papelbon's four-year, $50 million contract with the Phillies offers a clean break. He embodied Boston's baseball success, and the Dropkick Murphys signaled his presence to sellouts at Fenway Park. But when it soured, Papelbon sought a new place where he could thrive in a pressure-packed environment. That night he threw the 90 m.p.h. splitter to Andino, Papelbon vowed that would not define him.

He said that being paid more than any reliever in baseball history was not a validation.

"It doesn't mean anything to me," Papelbon said. "It's not like a personal goal of mine to be the highest-paid closer. That's not what I'm worried about. But for me I do take a lot of pride that this is a role that is relatively new. It's now starting to get recognized as an important role."

Papelbon often alluded to the Yankees' Mariano Rivera, the all-time saves leader, and the man he calls "The Godfather." He said Rivera told him at the 2006 All-Star Game that the key to being a closer was a good short-term memory.

Staying healthy is another. Papelbon has averaged 66 innings and never spent time on the disabled list. A shoulder ailment in late 2006 prompted Boston to consider reducing the strain by making him a starting pitcher again. Papelbon resisted and has held up ever since.

He has plenty of reasons to relish a new challenge, especially when it means less of the American League East.

"To be honest," Papelbon said, "there really were some days when it got kind of old sitting there saying, 'OK, I got to face [Derek] Jeter again and he's seen everything I got and I've seen everything he's got.'

"That's why I say this brings a little bit of life to me this year."